Adeduntan Charges  Banks On Due Diligence To Restore Confidence, Integrity

The managing director/CEO of First Bank of Nigeria(FBN), Dr Adesola Adeduntan has charged financial institutions, particularly, banks to up their ante on compliance and customer due diligence.

This, he said, was to restore confidence and integrity of the banking industry as well as combat money laundering, terrorism and other associated activities,

Speaking at the meeting of the Association of Chief Compliance Officers of Banks in Nigeria (ACCOBIN) in Lagos yesterday, he called for increased regulation of the financial technology (fintech) space.

Adeduntan, who was represented by the executive director, Retail Banking (South) Division, Oluseyi Oyefeso, also stressed the need for collaboration of all stakeholders on compliance, including regulators as well as security agencies in the country.

“A lot of things go wrong in the fintech space and a lot of transactions are happening there. Nobody is against fintechs, we need them because they can reach the unreachable, but there is need for more intervention from regulators.

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“They need to do more because at the end of the day, the backlash has caused a confidence issue in the banking industry and everybody just draws a conclusion that the banking industry is not safe. Meanwhile, it is not the banks but the fintechs and a lot of it is happening now,” he said.

Charging bank compliance officers to drive the institutionalisation of Customer Due Diligence practices in banks, he said, it is a vital step towards maintaining the integrity of financial systems and the economic soundness of the country by extension.

“By adopting a structured and systematic approach to conducting Customer Due Diligence, banks become adequately equipped to effectively combat money laundering, terrorism and other associated activities.

“The benefits are manifold, with a major one being increased confidence and trust in the banking industry, ultimately leading to higher profitability.  I enjoin us to continue to consolidate our collaborative efforts and innovative solutions for greater operational efficiencies, heightened security, and enhanced customer experiences,” he noted.

Calling for collaboration on the part of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) as well as security agencies, he said, detecting tools be shared with banks, noting that, “if they share this with banks, it will help us because we deal with volumes of transactions. It is not as easy as it looks to sieve through those transactions. If you have tools that you use, do share with banks.”

On the part of First Bank, he said: “we have continued to harness the power of technology to implement comprehensive CDD measures and we are steadfastly working towards ensuring a seamless and secure environment for our clients and other stakeholders.

“Some of the steps we have taken include development of a robust framework for UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner) identification to mitigate the risk of money laundering, fraud, and other illegal activities.

“Utilisation of digital tools such as automated screening systems to streamline and enhance the due diligence process which efficiently screen customer information against watchlists, sanctions lists, and adverse media databases as well as monitoring of customer activities through the implementation of a robust monitoring system to continuously assess customer behaviour and identify any suspicious transactions.”